From 14 to 16 November this year, the annual Croppa Creek Classic Harvest – dubbed “A Walk Back in Time” – will bring the past to life as vintage harvesters, tractors and horse‑drawn wagons roll into action on a family‑farm site slightly east of the township of Croppa Creek.
Event organiser Lawrie Timmins says the three‑day display will again showcase a working museum of heritage farming equipment – from reapers and binders of the 1890s to mechanised headers of the 1950s and ’60s.
“We’ll have heaps of old headers, a stationary hay baler and press, a stripper and winnower, plenty of tractors including the old Lanz Bulldogs, which we’re hoping to do some ploughing jobs with, and we’ll have hopefully four draft horses working on the day as well,” he said.
Located on private property on the Corner of Croppa Creek and Croppa‑Moree Road, the event invites families, machinery enthusiasts and history buffs alike to step back into an era when agriculture moved at a slower pace and every machine told a story.
Visitors can expect static displays alongside working demonstrations of antique harvest gear. The objective is to pay homage to how wheat and other grain crops were cut, threshed, and bagged in decades gone by, and to connect newer generations to that heritage.
“A few other locals and I go around the clearance sales and buy old equipment and then do our best to restore it over the year,” said Mr Timmins.
The heritage harvest event has become something of a community fixture over recent years, drawing visitors not just from the local district but from farther afield. For many, it’s a fascinating blend of nostalgia, local history and mechanical ingenuity.
For Mr Timmins, it’s also a reminder for all that newer is not always better.
“Back when we were farming, we bought a header and it lasted you for life – now everything is so disposable,” he said.
“The new gear might be tweaked up with modern technology, but the principle of it is the same; it still does the same thing.”
The organisers stress that while the event has a strong ‘vintage’ and ‘heritage’ theme, there’s plenty for the whole family. Children, in particular, are invited to see the old machines in action up close and learn how earlier generations harvested crops.
“I had a group of young farmers in their early 20s last year who didn’t know anything about ploughing a field,” said Mr Timmins.
“It’s a real pleasure to run the event each year, especially when some of the young people come and learn a lot.”
Admission and event details remain to be finalised, but Mr Timmins encourages anyone curious to attend and bring families, picnic gear and cameras. With the heritage machines restored and primed, the 2025 edition promises to be another memorable celebration of agriculture’s roots.
Each day is scheduled to run from around 10am to 2pm, but it is weather-dependent. For more information, contact the organisers through the event’s Facebook page.
Turn up to experience the roar of engines, the creak of iron and the honouring of a farming tradition that helped shape rural Australia.
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